After failing on Mt. Rhonda and a lack of snow anywhere else, we decided to go have a go on Mt. Gordon as a day trip. The weather was perfect and the views couldn't have been better.
The approach was scrappy and we were just barely able to skin from the parking lot. There were 25cm's fresh on the ground at the parking lot, however above treeline the winds had pretty much taken it all away. All open areas above treeline were wind hammered sastrugi. The lee zones were forming slab and we noted a class 2 on the NE side of Mt. Olive and the same on Mt. Saint Nic.
We arrived on the summit at the late hour of 4pm and enjoyed some of the best views around. Spent 15 minutes taking in the views and then off we went back towards the car. I had forgotten my ice axe near the top and didn't realize it until we were too far down. Thought I would never see it again, however, when I got back from my work hitch I had an email waiting for me with news that my ice axe was waiting for me in Revelstoke. Sweet.
The total trip took 13 hours car to car. Significant time can be shaved off if you wait for enough snow to be able to ski all the way back down through the canyon. We took the summer trail up and the canyon back down. There was still lots of open water to cross on the way down which added time. A fun trip and a very long day.
No comments:
Post a Comment